Rundgren show in New Brunswick, NJ - 4/29

Review by John M. (Switch to
)5/01/2005

First time posting here....Let me start by saying, I have seen Todd / Utopia
in concert about 40 times, tours that included: Faithful, Deface the Music,
Ra, Oops, Hermit, Adventures in Utopia, Healing, Swing to the Right,
Oblivion, POV, A-Cappella, Individualist, With A Twist, etc. I have seen
him in Pool Halls (Grover Mills) to stadiums (Giants Stadium & Spectrum). I
have stuck by him through thick and thin.

I was hesitant about seeing this show. Reading some reviews, I was
concerned about being disappointed. While I thought this show was an odd
pairing of talents, I found the variety quite interesting. As the show
began, I was surprised to see many old Utopian faces from high school, what
a treat!!!! I appreciated the efforts of Ethel and I loved Joe Jackson, he
was in fine form, good voice, cordial and he genuinely seemed thrilled to be
there and the crowd sensed it.

Skip to Todd.....I expected the set list would more or less be what's been
published on the Net, I was happy to see a nice mix of hits from over the
years. While the mix was good, it was sloppy (to quote Todd) and uneven. I
tried to overlook the unevenness of his voice, sometimes great, other
times...so-so. I acted like a 12 year old and yelled out to play "The
Wheel" which Todd surprisingly did two songs later (sorry to yell Todd, but
THANK YOU!!). Overall, I enjoyed what was played at this show, but I have
not been thrilled with tour efforts over the past few years.

While I appreciate Todd's continued efforts to try new things in the world
of music, I see some of his fan base abandoning him. Even after some of my
friends gave up years ago, I still persevere and attend the occasional show.
I still talk with them about the unbelievable shows we saw for so many years
and I continue to hold out hope for those days to return.

Todd continues to evolve, but I still miss Todd at his inventive best, I
remember....

How many musicians do you know that can write, produce and play every
instrument on an album?
How many musicians do you know that has written an album of all Acappella
songs?
How many musicians do you know that can write an Electrified Fairy Tale?
How many musicians do you know that can play Ravel's Bolero wearing white
band uniforms and pull it off?
How many musicians do you know that can write an entire album of original
music and each song is reminiscent of a specific Beatles tune?

Only Todd.

P.S. I would LOVE to see a reunion tour with the boys from Utopia. How long
has it been since all four played together?